Chapter 76
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Chapter 76
"It seems Marquis Nemea did not attend."
"He despises these sorts of galas."
Selea, walking alongside Kieran, made a face as if tasting something bitter.
"I have no patience for sweat-drenched swordsmen either."
Selea grumbled that the Marquis spoke of nothing but sword training whenever they met, squinting one eye as she spoke.
"Be careful. Your second brother wields dual blades, doesn't he?"
"That is correct."
"If Marquis Nemea catches wind of it, he'll drag him away on the spot."
"Much like how you dragged me away, Your Grace?"
It was a talent of his—making everything sound so infuriatingly clever.
Selea glared at Kieran.
"I never intended to take you on as my disciple..."
To her sighing words, Kieran reminded her of the benefits.
"Yet thanks to your disciple, you avoided bankruptcy, did you not?"
"Thank you, thank you so much. I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about when I owed you money."
Selea muttered, her face growing slightly pale.
Yet despite her words, she was genuinely grateful.
Without Kieran back then, the Ibroyel Duchy would surely not enjoy its current glory.
The fault had been entirely hers, and Kieran had guided her back to the righteous path.
Only his methods had been rather... harsh.
So much so that one might suspect he ran loan-sharking as a side business.
He had come chasing after her wielding a demonic blade—the kind used only for slaying monsters in the Eastern Black Forest—demanding repayment.
Shaking her head, she spoke to Kieran in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Marquis Milton is someone worth knowing. He has connections everywhere. Most importantly, he is close with the Cardinals."
The most exceptional among the Holy Knights becomes a Heresy Inquisitor.
The most devout among the Holy Priests is elected as a Cardinal.
I had drawn in Hailon, but he was a Heresy Inquisitor.
A Cardinal wielded far greater influence over the Holy Priests.
I needed to establish a connection to the Cardinals as well.
Chesa, who was attending the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony, would surely work harder than anyone.
Yet the world was not a place where effort alone brought success.
Behind the prayer ceremony attended only by innocent children, fierce and sordid negotiations among adults were already underway.
I absolutely had to obtain the Fairy Queen's Crown.
I had no intention of yielding it to anyone, so I would ensure Chesa's victory by any means necessary.
It would be convenient to bind everyone with mind control, but since I could not reveal myself as a dark mage, I was carefully orchestrating the game while applying mental domination only to a select few.
For example, the Sun Emperor of the Palen Empire...
"Do your best."
Selea tapped Kieran's shoulder and opened the door.
Inside awaited an elderly Marquis and a young noblewoman.
"Marquis Milton and his wife, I see. This is Count Basilian."
Selea made a brief introduction between the two parties.
Kieran greeted them with a subtle smile.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Kieran Basilian."
"Do converse well. I hope this becomes a meaningful connection."
Selea excused herself to attend to other guests.
Only the Marquis couple and Kieran remained in the room.
Appraising gazes swept across him.
Accustomed to such scrutiny, Kieran simply smiled in silence and waited for their observation to conclude.
The Marchioness Milton fanned herself with evident approval as she spoke.
"How astonishing. I never imagined such a magnificent gentleman existed."
Yet unlike the Marchioness, Marquis Milton made his displeasure abundantly clear.
He feared his young wife might develop romantic feelings for Count Basilian.
There was no need for such concern, given my complete lack of interest...
Still, Kieran maintained his courteous smile.
Seeing the smile, Marquis Milton's brow furrowed deeply with irritation.
He had clearly arrived with hostility firmly entrenched in his heart.
Steering this toward a favorable outcome would prove difficult.
Yet I had prepared several enticing baits that might capture the Marquis's interest.
Kieran turned his gaze toward the door.
The Marquis couple exchanged puzzled looks, and moments later, the door burst open.
"Waaah, Father, Mother...!"
A boy came rushing in, sobbing loudly.
"Louis!"
The young heir of the Milton Marquis House.
Marquis Milton showed a brief moment of embarrassment at the child's sudden intrusion into adult conversation.
But he soon became preoccupied with soothing his son.
"Good heavens! What has happened, my little lark?"
"Oh my, he's completely drenched in juice. Whatever shall we do!"
The Marchioness's flustered voice joined in.
Marquis Milton had only one son.
He had gone through three wives to obtain this precious child, or so the rumors claimed.
I understood he was around the same age as Belzeon.
Watching him wail over a mere splash of juice was hardly amusing.
Kieran had no time to waste.
This was my first attendance at a ball as 'Count Basilian.'
I needed to conclude this conversation with Marquis Milton and speak with other nobles as well.
Without a word, I withdrew a pocket watch from my jacket.
As I checked the time on the silver timepiece, the Marquis couple nearly succeeded in silencing the wretched lark's cries.
The pathetic lark, despite his pet name, produced such grating sounds that his silence was truly a blessing.
The Silver-haired Boy, who had only just stopped crying, blew his nose into the handkerchief offered by the Marchioness Milton.
Marquis Milton cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem, as the Count well knows, raising children inevitably brings all manner of unavoidable situations, does it not?"
He droned on with such unremarkable platitudes when a polite knock sounded at the door.
Knock, knock—a neat, measured rapping accompanied by a composed voice.
"Father, it's Ishuel."
"It's Chesa, sir."
At the adorable voice that followed, Kieran found himself laughing without quite meaning to.
If Marquis Milton's songbird had entered, there was no reason the Count Basilian's little fledgling couldn't follow.
Kieran chuckled mischievously, imagining several nicknames that would make Chesa absolutely mortified if she heard them.
"Come in."
But the moment the door opened and Ishuel appeared before him.
The smile vanished from his face.
***
Ishuel's attire, adorned with fresh flowers, caused quite a stir throughout the Ballroom.
The theme of the evening was "The Fairy's Forest," and his appearance suited it so perfectly that some guests were subtly plucking the fresh flowers decorating the Ballroom to arrange along their own collars in imitation.
Yet no matter what flower anyone placed, none could compare to those Chesa had conjured with her fairy magic.
Surrounded by the delicate fragrance of fresh blossoms, Ishuel and Chesa truly resembled fairies themselves.
"Thank you."
Ishuel, his mood thoroughly brightened, whispered to Chesa with a radiant smile.
As he walked slowly deeper into the Ballroom searching for Karha, Chesa caught his arm.
"Look over there."
The boy who had spilled juice earlier stood glowering at them alongside what appeared to be his friends, his expression bitter.
The boy glared menacingly before suddenly bolting away.
"Follow him."
He clearly hadn't come to his senses yet.
Ishuel, sharing Chesa's assessment, quietly trailed after the boy.
As expected, the boy had found his parents and was already bursting into tears.
He was attempting to tattle on them.
One unexpected detail: the person conversing with the boy's parents was Kieran.
Ishuel, listening quietly from outside the door, cast Chesa an uncertain look.
Chesa snorted derisively.
She longed to cleave him in two with an axe, shove his head into a carnivorous flower, pound him flat with a colossal chess piece—countless delightful options flooded her mind.
But for now, she was powerless to act.
Still, Chesa knew an exceptionally effective way to handle this without resorting to fairy magic.
'Does he think he's the only one with a father?'
Chesa snapped her fingers, gesturing sharply toward the door.
Ishuel obediently knocked and entered the room.
Kieran's smile widened briefly, then slowly froze as he noticed the juice stain marring Ishuel's clothing.
Chesa reached out her hand to Kieran.
Nestled in his arms, Chesa leaned close and pressed her lips to Kieran's ear.
"Father."
Then, pointing at the silver-haired boy whose eyes darted nervously in my direction, she whispered softly.
"That boy scared Chesa."
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